Chapter Text
Phoenix looked around shiftily as he exited the flats in loose pants and a battered old tee. It was 6am, and nearly nobody was around. Still, he really, really didn't want to be seen. Phoenix Wright did not jog. He was not a jogger. Nope. No way. This wasn't what he was doing. At all. No. Of course not.
He walked briskly to the park, fighting off a misplaced sense of paranoia that somebody he knew was going to jump out from behind a bush and accost him. He took a deep breath, set his iPod to play, and started to move off into a slow jog. He was sick of being out of breath from the stairs, sick of eyeing up his friends and feeling mildly envious. Thus, the jogging. The running. The getting fit. Ew.
But hey, maybe this wasn't so bad. The morning was actually kind of nice, the park was pretty much empty, he hadn't gotten a stitch yet, and... Wait. Was someone yelling? At him? Sounded like... Pess? Nah, couldn't be anything to do with hi--
Something solid hit him square in the back and Phoenix tumbled straight forward, narrowly missing doing a straight faceplant into the tarmac path. He rolled forward on his shoulder, scrabbling for purchase on the rough surface, scratching up his palms. Then, while he was still reeling, something was in his face, all over it, wet and warm and--
"PESS! DOWN! HEEL! AT ONCE!" Someone was there, yelling in stern, clipped tones, and the slobbery thing was gone. Phoenix dragged a hand over his face and sat up, dazed. When he came to, he saw an impeccably dressed man scolding a large, white, very fluffy dog, which was alternately panting in delight and whining in protest. The man suddenly seemed to remember that Phoenix was there, and looked down, steely eyes softening into something vaguely apologetic, before offering a leather-gloved hand. Still rather in shock, Phoenix took it, and was pulled firmly to his feet.
"I must apolgise; this is the first time Pess has done this," said the man, frowning at the dog, who doesn't seem perturbed in the slightest. "When he saw you, he took off quite suddenly. Must have thought you were a hedgehog to chase," he added with the hint of a wry smile. Phoenix instinctively raised his hand to check that his spikes were still intact, halfway embarrassed and halfway offended.
"Yeah, well... Just keep a tighter leash on him next time," Phoenix muttered, looking down and away. The dog (Pess? What an odd name) moved into his line of sight and tried to jump up at him again, face a picture of adorable eagerness. The man started to pull him down but Phoenix murmured some protest and knelt down to ruffle Pess on the head. "Who's a fluffy boy, eh? Who's a fluffy boy overly keen on knocking over innocent runners? Yes. You are." Unbenknowst to Phoenix, the other man was looking down with a mixture of surprise and... fondness? Quickly, he snapped out of it.
"Could I by any chance get you a coffee or similar to make up for this?" Asked the dog's owner, making Phoenix jump. He looked into those cool eyes again, and something twinged at the back of his mind. Something that made him say yes.